Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics - Transcript

CNN

SHOW: JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS 16:00

August 18, 2004 Wednesday

Transcript # 081800CN.V15

HEADLINE: Kerry Speaks to VFW Convention; Republican Congressman Says He Regrets Iraq War Vote

GUESTS: Howard Dean, Saxby Chambliss

BYLINE: Candy Crowley, Dan Lothian, Jill Dougherty, Bruce Morton, Ed Henry, David Ensor, William Schneider, Paula Zahn

HIGHLIGHT:
Senator Kerry claimed to veterans at the VFW National Convention that he will get the job done for Americans in uniform, not the Bush administration. Retiring Congressman Doug Bereuter says he regrets voting for the Iraq war.

CROWLEY: More now on the political debate over Iraq and U.S. military policies. Earlier I spoke with Democrat Howard Dean. I am now joined from Capitol Hill by Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. He is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for being here.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS ®, GEORGIA: Good to be with you, Candy.

CROWLEY: I wanted to start out by talking to you a little bit about Congressman Bereuter and his letter to his constituents saying, "Big mistake; I shouldn't have voted for Iraq."

We were just talking a little bit. There is some pressure out there on those who voted for this war. Can you tell me about that, what it's like out there in the grassroots right now?

CHAMBLISS: Well, frankly, back home in Georgia, I don't feel any pressure from anybody. I think people in my state are very military oriented. They're very patriotic individuals, may feel very strongly about the fact that we did do the right thing. And I still am firmly convinced that we did.

There's a lot still that I know that the general public doesn't know by virtue of my intel and my armed services position. But it was simply the right thing to do.

Doug has the right to his opinion, and that's what makes our country so great.

CROWLEY: Well, let me step back, saying, you know, because you have military and patriotic oriented Georgians, that they're for the war. There are, I'm sure you would grant, military inclined and patriotic people who are against that war?

CHAMBLISS: Sure, there are. It-it just so happens that in my state, I don't really hear that, though.

And I get around the country a good bit. And I think for the most part, people are not happy with the war. War is never any fun. But this is a war that is right now, for the most part, being fought somewhere other than the United States, even though we've been grossly attacked.

But, you know, we've got to continue forward. Our country is the strong country that it is, because once we make a decision to bow our back and do what's right, we do it. And that's what we're seeing right now in leadership from this president.

CROWLEY: Well, Senator Chambliss, I'm sure you know that some of the polls are not looking all that well for the president right now. And much of it is centered on Iraq.

I know that in North Carolina, where George Bush won by 13 points, I mean, this is the solid Republican South here, that poll between John Kerry and George Bush is three points, a three-point spread. That's within the margin of error.

Doesn't the Bush campaign have to do something between now and November to convince people that this war, you know, was not a bad idea, as increasingly both Republicans and Democrats are saying?

CHAMBLISS: Well, it would be nice from the president's perspective to have this war take a major turn in the-in a positive direction, but war is simply something that we can't predict. We can predict the outcome. The outcome is we're going to win.

But this president was very straight forward early on after September 11, when he said that the war against terrorism is going to be a long and enduring war. It's not going to be won overnight. It's a war unlike any war we've ever been involved in.

Today, for example, I think we've had some very encouraging news with the situation involving the cleric in Najaf, with al-Sadr at least coming to the table one more time.

We're going to give him a chance to say whether he means it or not. If he doesn't, we're going to see the Iraqis exercise the kind of force that needs to be exercised to take him out.

So those are the kinds of thing that, from a positive perspective, will certainly help President Bush as we lead towards the election.

CROWLEY: Let me ask you about both the troop deployments, the major troop movement that the president talked about before the veterans yesterday, also abut what he said today, which is, "I want to give the National Guard and Reservists more money for education benefits."

How can one look at either of those announcements and not see politics at play here coming at this point?

CHAMBLISS: Well, everything in Washington right now, Candy, is all politics. And if the president had failed to say something like that, he probably would have been criticized by somebody for political reasons. So it's-politics is a part of what we're doing right now.

From the standpoint of the National Guard, though, this is another step in the direction that the administration has been urging Congress to do. And I chair the personnel subcommittee on the Senate Armed Services Committee. My ranking member, Senator Nelson from Nebraska, is an individual who strongly supports that, as do I.

We've been working hard to make some changes exactly along the lines that the president's proposed. Was that politics? It was a matter of looking after our men and women who are being called up more than ever before in the history of our country.

So there are two ways of looking at it; it's either politics or it's taking care of our people. And I prefer the latter.

CROWLEY: Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Republican from Georgia, we really appreciate your taking the time.

CHAMBLISS: Sure, Candy. Always a pleasure.